‘Mad Men’ renewed for two seasons, returns Spring 2012

[HMG Celebrity News] – After lengthy [and dexterously leaked] negotiations, Lionsgate and AMC have announced a deal that gives Mad Men  the chance to go on pitching for three further seasons.

The deal, said to be worth in the ball park of $30-million over three years, guarantees the show two more seasons with the option for a third. If that option’s picked up Mad Men would reach its seventh season, and that has to be good news for the fans.

And the show’s head producer, Matt Weiner is relieved to get the right deal;

“I walked away from it 4-5 times in the last few days,” he told the Times. “It’s never been about money. I wanted to do the show I wanted to do. The show the audience has come to expect.”

‘Men’s entire future had been in the balance since the end of season four last October when Matt’s contract expired. The AMC suits wanted to trim the shows from 47 minutes to 45, cut salaries and add more product placement. Matt hated these ideas, so the two sides were stuck. But early this week they made peace and the show is back on.

The bad news is, while past seasons have bowed in mid-Summer, because of delays caused by the talks the next season won’t reach your screen until March 2012.

It gets worse – the new deal means each episode except the season openers and finales will be 45-minutes. If you want to see the 47-minute ‘Directors Cut’ you’ll now need to watch it or buy it on digital outlets like iTunes.

Matt will now return to his AMC offices today and the writers will get back to work in 4-5 weeks. Production for season five will then start in July. But Matt warned the fans this is the end;

“These will be the last 3 seasons,” he told the scribes. “I’m incredibly grateful for the outpouring of support and overwhelmed I get to finish telling the stories I wanted to tell.”

Since its debut in July of ’07 the show has won three Emmy’s, four Golden Globes and two SAG awards and single-handedly transformed an insignificant cable channel into a respected production facility – and this is how AMC treat both it and the fans.

Do you think Matt and the fans got a good deal or did we get hosed? Sound off in the comments and let’s see where we stand…